Praeritus
Origin and biology Praeritus is a symbiotic and parasitic being. He is able to drain the life from any living organism, adding it's life force to his own. When he has collected enough of this life force, he is capable of moving up in his evolutionary chain. Praeritus has no vital organs, and no blood. He is capable of regenerating and recovering from injuries very, very quickly. This seems to be done at will. Should one severe a limb from Praeritus, the inside of his 'flesh' is reminiscent of ash. Upon being severed, a limb will deteriorate rapidly into a smokey black cloud, which will rush directly to Praeritus, as he regenerates the limb. Praeritus has insect-like mandibles which fold neatly into his face. Praeritus has no nose or ears, yet is able to both hear and smell. Praeritus' eyes give off a constant purple glow, though this seems to be under his control as well. Praeritus gives off an intense psychological effect in humans and human variations, causing them to hear whispers, sobbing, screams of pain, or other unsettling noises. At 6 meters, all of these can be heard. at 7 meters, only whispering can be heard. At 20 meters, nothing can be heard. Praeritus is often misidentified as a simple vampire, and should not be treated as such. Praeritus is capable of creating black, smokey tendrils to attack his enemies with. These tendrils can easily drain the life from anything touched, should Praeritus will them to. Though he is exceptionally strong, his main advantage is his mobility and speed. Praeritus can also feed on negative emotions from any intelligent being, though this is less efficient than draining life force. Praeritus does not speak using lips or a tongue. Instead, his voice seems to simply pierce the minds of those who hear it, yet somehow the sound seems to come from Praeritus. Praeritus does use his 'mouth' to generate noise, mostly consisting of screeches, moans, chirps, and clicks. Little is known about his origin other than that one day, he erupted from an ignited portal to The End, slaughtering all nearby. His empire rose from there, as those that weren't killed joined his cause. He ravaged the nearby area, raising his empire. From this time period on we have a large blank, until a few thousand years later, when Praeritus' empire is at war with an unknown attacker. His capital city is located in the frozen north, and is his last remaining stronghold. Praeritus is imprisoned and sealed within chambers deep underneath the earth. Now he has escaped, and reached his final and most powerful form. He can now transform at will between is ordinary, and his 'corrupt' form. In the event of Death Praeritus can return from apparent death, regenerating in mere moments to full condition. In this event, he will be relatively tired for a few hours, and may feed to speed his recovery. Due to his lack of organs or blood, Praeritus cannot be killed permenantly, only imprisoned. Stages/Forms -Stage 1- Praeritus is a multistaged being, meaning that, the more the feeds, the more he evolves. He begins as an ethereal being of sorts, he is able to phase through solid objects, including other beings, but is very fragile. He will attempt to find an inanimate object to bind himself to, so that he can find a new host. This object becomes stage 2. -Stage 2- Upon the object being touched by an individual, he wakes, securing what is referred to as his 'original' host. This host's body becomes that of Praeritus, rapidly. The host body has silver-white hair, purple irises, and very pale skin. This form still looks moderately human. -Stage 3- Following this, Praeritus will feed, and eventually shift into stage 3. Stage 3 is far more powerful than either of stages 1 or 2. -Stage 4- Upon reaching yet another required amount of life force and matter, Praeritus will enter Stage 4, becoming much more agile. -Stage 5- This is the second most powerful form of Praeritus, and the most often seen. This form provides Praeritus very high agility and regenerative properties. -Stage 6- Death, destruction, and decay await. Stage 6 grants Praeritus the ability to warp short distances, very rapidly. Stage 6 is highly disturbing, and in this form Praeritus retains all previous abilities, along with the ability to shift to and from any other stage at will. Praeritus can now mimic sounds made by other entities, to a degree, but not perfectly. This includes voices. Praeritus, in this stage, gives off an aura of decay. There are ways to destroy Praeritus in this form, though none are recorded, yet.